David Blair Motorsports

Blair Motorsports
Owner(s)	David Blair
Base	Statesville, North Carolina
Series	Winston Cup
Race drivers	Kenny Irwin Jr. Elton Sawyer Todd Bodine Rick Wilson
Sponsors	Indianapolis Colts, Tonka
Manufacturer	Ford
Opened	1996
Closed	1998
Career
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	0

David Blair Motorsports (DBM) is a former NASCAR Winston Cup team. It was formed in 1995 by attorney David Blair. It only ran a few years in the circuit, and never could hang onto a regular sponsor.

1996

David Blair Motorsports began racing in 1996, the No. 27 team having been acquired in its entirety from Junior Johnson & Associates. It was able to keep the number, 27, and the driver, Elton Sawyer.^[1] Sawyer and the team got off to a disappointing start, failing to qualify for two races and only mustering up a best finish of 19th at the spring Atlanta race. After the Coca-Cola 600, Sawyer was released due to a lack of funding for the operation, and the team suspended operations to reorganize.^[2] After a failed attempt at the Brickyard 400 with Jason Keller driving, DBM reappeared at the Mountain Dew Southern 500 with Todd Bodine driving. Bodine qualified sixteenth and finished 15th. Bodine ran two more races with the team that season, never qualifying outside the top 20.

1997

After starting 1997 off with no driver or sponsor, the team finally hooked up a deal with Rick Wilson to run selected events that season. The team returned at the Miller 400 at Michigan, where Wilson started 31st and finished 21st. He had the same finish later in the year at the Brickyard 400 in a car sponsored by the Indianapolis Colts.^[3] In September that year, Blair was hired by Robert Yates Racing to field a car for their new driver, Kenny Irwin Jr., to prepare him for his rookie year in 1998.^[4] In his first start with the team at Richmond International Raceway, Irwin qualified on the outside pole. He followed that up with taking the lead at lap 86 and holding it for the next 12 laps before finishing in eighth place. In his next start, at Martinsville Speedway, he qualified third but had to make an early exit due to a fuel pump problem. He ran two more races that year before moving to RYR full-time for 1998.

1998

DBM began 1998 in a familiar place: no sponsor. Despite signing Tommy Kendall to drive early on, the team was unable to locate a sponsor for the year, and Kendall left the team. This did not stop the team from looking towards the future, as they built a full shop of Ford Tauruses to prepare for a full-time run. A successful test at Darlington Speedway with Mike Wallace yielded optimism for 1999, but by November, it was obvious the situation hadn't gotten any better. As a result, Blair laid off all of his employees and sold the shop and equipment to Travis Carter Motorsports. Under the TCM banner, the old David Blair team ran for five years with mediocre results, before disappearing in 2003.

Car No. 27 results

Year	Driver	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	NWCC	Pts
1996	Elton Sawyer	27	Ford	DAY 25	CAR DNQ	RCH 30	ATL 19	DAR 30	BRI 37	NWS 32	MAR DNQ	TAL 37	SON	CLT 21	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL			MCH DNQ	BRI											38th	892
	Jason Keller																					IND DNQ	GLN
	Todd Bodine																									DAR 15	RCH 34	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT 21	CAR	PHO
	Ron Barfield Jr.																																	ATL DNQ
1997	Rick Wilson			DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	TEX DNQ	BRI	MAR	SON	TAL	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH 21	CAL	DAY	NHA	POC	IND 21	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR					CLT 19	TAL				46th	731
1997	Kenny Irwin Jr.																										RCH 8	NHA	DOV	MAR 37			CAR DNQ	PHO 20	ATL 25	46th	731

References

^ "Foyt fails to qualify for today's Dura-Lube 500K". Macon Telegraph. Macon, GA. October 29, 1995. p. 9D. Retrieved September 15, 2013.
^ Fry, Darrell (June 2, 1996). "Blair team loses race with time". St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, FL. p. 9C. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2013.
^ "Two sides in Indy battle 'talk about the weather'". Gadsden Times. Gadsden, AL. August 3, 1997. p. D5. Retrieved September 15, 2013.
^ Zeller, Bob (August 30, 1997). "NASCAR Report". The Virginian-Pilot. Hampton Roads, VA. p. C5. Retrieved September 15, 2013.

[1] "Foyt fails to qualify for today's Dura-Lube 500K". Macon Telegraph. Macon, GA. October 29, 1995. p. 9D. Retrieved September 15, 2013.

[2] Fry, Darrell (June 2, 1996). "Blair team loses race with time". St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, FL. p. 9C. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2013.

[3] "Two sides in Indy battle 'talk about the weather'". Gadsden Times. Gadsden, AL. August 3, 1997. p. D5. Retrieved September 15, 2013.

[4] Zeller, Bob (August 30, 1997). "NASCAR Report". The Virginian-Pilot. Hampton Roads, VA. p. C5. Retrieved September 15, 2013.

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